California online casinos: Play legal casino games online in CA
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California doesn’t have legal online casinos yet, but sweepstakes casinos are a safe and viable option for playing online slots and casino games in CA.
Sweepstakes casinos comply with California sweepstakes laws and offer a familiar game selection. At these sites, you can enjoy an online casino atmosphere and win cash prizes and gift cards.
Below is a list of the top sweepstakes casinos legal in most states (excl. WA, MI, and ID). All have casino-style games that you can play for free or redeem cash prizes for.
It’ll be a while before California legalizes online casinos. We’re talking years, not months, given the number of stakeholders who would need to be appeased by the legislation.
In the meantime, you can play online slots and casino games at the following top sweeps and social casinos.
This social casino offers the best Vegas-style casino experience online, with over 700 online slots and casino games.
No download is required, and the games at WOW Vegas are the same as those at most Las Vegas casinos. Paris Hilton recently signed on as a spokesperson, adding to the Vegas-style glitz and glamor.
- Number of games: 700+
- Coin types: WOW Coins/Sweepstakes Coins
- FREE Sweepstakes Coins sign-up bonus? Yes
- Cashout methods and speed: Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Trustly (under 24 hours)
- Special promos/features: The Star System loyalty program lets you earn 1 Star for every 50 Sweepstakes Coins bet on slots, move up through the rankings, and earn rewards, monthly bonuses, and exclusive special offers.
This social casino offers you the chance to play online slots and casino games from top game developers, including Pragmatic Play, NetEnt, and Playson. Plus, McLuck hosts live dealer games like blackjack, baccarat, and roulette.
No download is required, and the 500+ games include many of the same ones available at popular state-licensed online casinos.
- Number of games: 500+
- Coin types: Gold Coins/Sweepstakes Coins
- FREE Sweepstakes Coins sign-up bonus? Yes
- Cashout methods and speed: Visa, Mastercard, Skrill (1-2 days)
- Special promos/features:
This social casino has the largest selection of online table games among its peers. Plus, High 5 hosts live dealer games and more than 450 online slots from top outside and in-house developers.
No download is required, and High 5 Casino has many exclusive titles available.
- Number of games: 465+
- Coin types: Game Coins/Diamonds/Sweeps Coins
- FREE Sweeps Coins sign-up bonus? Yes
- Cashout methods and speed: Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay (1-2 days)
- Special promos/features: Earn points and move up the tiers to unlock rewards in the Club High Five loyalty program.
Pulsz has one of the most extensive and varied game libraries among social casinos. No download is required, and you’re almost spoiled for choice.
- Number of games: 700+
- Coin types: Gold Coins/Sweepstakes Coins
- FREE Sweepstakes Coins sign-up bonus? Yes
- Cashout methods and speed: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club, Skrill, instant bank transfer (1-2 days)
- Special promos/features: Climb the VIP levels to increase the coins you’ll receive when you make a purchase.
This social casino offers the quintessential social casino experience with a complete library of table games, slots, video poker, progressive jackpot slots, and more.
No download is required at Chumba, and daily bonuses are available.
- Number of games: 150+
- Coin types: Gold Coins/Sweeps Coins
- FREE Sweeps Coins sign-up bonus? Yes
- Cashout methods and speed: Visa, Mastercard, Skrill (1-2 days)
- Special promos/features: Regular players can get frequent promotions and bonuses, including daily bonus opportunities.
This social casino offers a complete online slot parlor experience with more than 100 titles.
No download is required, and a limited number of electronic table games, including blackjack, are available. Plus, LuckyLand Slots allows prize redemptions starting at $50.
- Number of games: 100+
- Coin types: Gold Coins/Sweeps Coins
- FREE Sweeps Coins sign-up bonus? Yes
- Cashout methods and speed: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, instant bank transfer (under 24 hours)
- Special promos/features: Although they all feature familiar casino-style themes and gameplay, all slots at LuckyLand are exclusive to the site.
Safe, legitimate, and secure sweepstakes and social casinos are available in California, which means there’s no need to risk your money with an illegal offshore online casino.
Popular offshore online casinos like Bovada and Ignition pose significant risks. These casinos are often based in Central American and Caribbean countries, offering little to no government oversight.
These offshore online casinos have no connection to the US or the state of California. That means you’ve got nowhere to turn if you have a financial dispute or any issue.
Offshore online casinos fool legitimate US banks and online payment providers into doing business with them, and your money can quickly become involved in that game.
These offshore casinos will delay, refuse, and stand in the way of your withdrawal attempts until you give up and gamble away what you’ve won. They can also sell your personal information to the highest bidder.
Real money online casinos are not yet legal in California. All efforts to bring any type of online gambling to California have thus far fallen short.
California’s Native American tribes, cardrooms, racetracks, and online gambling operators appear to be years away from any consensus that would allow for an online casino market to open.
However, you can play online slots and table games at leading online sweepstakes, sweeps, and social casinos in California. These sites allow you to play for fun and redeem some winnings for cash prizes and gift cards in compliance with California sweepstakes laws.
Outside of sweepstakes and social casinos, daily fantasy sports (DFS) is the only other type of online gambling available in California. In DFS, users build teams of real-life athletes to compete against other users for prize pools.
California law does not expressly forbid or allow daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests. Past DFS legalization bills have failed to pass, but DFS sites like DraftKings and FanDuel remain available in California.
There are 70 tribal casinos and another 60 legal cardrooms that offer some form of live gambling in the state. Plus, California has several racetracks and OTB facilities featuring pari-mutuel wagering on horse races.
These are the organizations that would presumably offer legal online gambling in California. However, these same parties are currently standing in the way of CA online gambling because they disagree on how it should work.
There are no states neighboring California that have online casinos. That said, Arizona and Oregon do allow online sports betting, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are the only states with state-licensed, real-money online casinos.
The critical difference between state-licensed real money online casinos and online social casinos is the currency.
Real money online casinos let you deposit funds and gamble directly for cash. You can’t do that at sweepstakes, sweeps, or social casinos.
Instead, you can buy Gold Coins with no cash value, and you’ll get Sweepstakes or Sweeps Coins as a bonus. No purchase is required, which means you can also get Sweepstakes or Sweeps Coins through other promos, bonuses, contests, and mail-in requests.
You can then play online slots and casino games with Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins. If you win additional Sweepstakes or Sweeps Coins, you can redeem them for cash prizes and gift cards (minimums apply).
It’s an extra step or two, but it means you can play online slots and casino games with the potential to win cash prizes and gift cards in states that do not have real money online casinos just yet, including California.
The top reason to play at sweepstakes and social casinos in California is that they’re safe, secure, and legitimate. These sites comply with California sweepstakes laws.
Offshore online casinos are run with little to no US government oversight. Meanwhile, your money and personal information are safe with sweepstakes and social casinos in California.
There are 70 tribal casinos across California. Here’s a look at the five largest tribal casinos in the state.
- 1850: California becomes a state.
- 1872: California prohibits banked card games where players play against the house. Cardrooms begin offering poker and other player-banked table games to comply with the law. Hundreds of similar cardrooms open over the next 150 years.
- 1984: Proposition 37 passes, creating the California Lottery.
- 1933: California horse-race wagering is legalized with an amendment to the California Constitution.
- 2000: A constitutional amendment passes allowing Las Vegas-style casinos on Native American land. Native American tribes start to negotiate compacts with the state. More than 70 tribal casinos open under these compacts during the next two decades.
- November 2022: California votes no on Proposition 26 to legalize sports betting on Native American land and licensed racetracks in California, continuing a prohibition on sports betting in California and roulette and dice games at tribal casinos.
California’s legal gambling age is 18. The state’s Bureau of Gambling Control has regulatory authority over California’s cardrooms. Tribal casinos are regulated by tribes and the state through tribal commissions that work in compliance with state compacts.
